The Extreme Buying Group - strength in numbers

Little did I know 8 weeks ago that I'd be sat here this morning welcoming a current total of 124 practices into a Buying Group that has already placed orders for over £300,000 of PPE and infection control systems.

We are moving our members "up the queue" in terms of fulfilment dates and, at the same time, offering competitive prices that they have neither the time, the expertise nor the clout to enjoy individually.

We have the purchasing power of a corporate but with the "prethics" born of a community of like-minded smaller independent practitioners.

I decided early on that I wasn't going to make a penny out of this Buying Group - allowing me to establish strong core values of performance and behaviour amongst our members and our suppliers - there's no hidden agenda, other than getting my clients back to work and getting their businesses back to solvency as soon as possible.

Of course, I have a consultancy business to run.

I’m making the Buying Group exclusively available to my clients in The Extreme Business Regeneration Programme - which, although originally intended to run for three months from April, I’m now planning to extend to the end of 2020 as my only “coaching” service.

I will be holding the price of the Regeneration Programme until the end of 2020 at £300 pcm per practice (inclusive of VAT).

The benefits of joining The Extreme Business Regeneration Programme were being extolled even before The Buying Group was formed 10 days ago:

Also I’d like to say again that what you, Rachel and Phillippa are achieving and have produced with the Regeneration Programme is mind blowing, the time frame you’ve done it in, the format, the content, the wider inspiration for what we can do to survive as businesses...it’s all been priceless and I thank you for helping me at this time from the bottom of my heart

Gemma Cockburn

I have two simple objective with this programme:

Back to work safely, ethically and profitably

Strength in numbers

A quick summary of the features until you get back into practice:

Three times a week we meet on Zoom to discuss progress on The Buying Group, to share experiences with each other and to and meet with guest speakers who can educate and inform on the return to work (this week I'll be welcoming Laura Horton to talk about the TCO role in the new normal and Richard Jones of Total Orthodontics for a specialist ortho session);

We have a dedicated Facebook Workplace with individual sections for Owners, Owners and Managers, Self-Employed Clinicians and Team Members - in which we are sharing Covid-19 and other business and clinical news updates as they are published;

We are providing lockdown teams with vCPD training tutorials very week;

We are creating a patient newsletter template every month;

Clients have on-demand access to me as their business coach via email and Zoom calls;

We are asking our Owners and Managers to complete a weekly (Friday) progress report and to set goals for the week ahead;

Clients will continue to have free access to the growing content on our e-learning platform The Extreme Business Academy when the "freemium" version of that closes on 30th June (we have grown from 200 to almost 2,400 free subscribers in the last 8 weeks - remarkable).

When the return to work (RTW) happens, I recognise that my current Daily Briefings and the Thursday evening Forum may well have to change.

We are also busy designing a RTW version of The Regeneration Programme and Buying Group that will include:

A Tuesday evening Zoom call with guest speakers continuing to educate and inform us on best practice in the first phase of RTW and as we progress back to full practice;

A Wednesday lunchtime Buying group call for Owners and Managers - we intend to expand the scope of practice of The Buying Group to cover further purchase areas such a capital equipment and professional services;

A Friday afternoon Zoom call for all Managers (Practice, Clinic, Business Development, Marketing, Financial) and TCOs to provide training, consultancy, coaching and mentoring;

Ongoing - the dedicated Facebook Workplace;

Ongoing - the Weekly Tracker report;

Ongoing - on-demand access to me as their business coach via email and Zoom calls;

Ongoing - access to The Extreme Business Academy e-learning catalogue.

In 2021, I will review that business model and, if possible extend the range of services provided to the Regeneration Group.

I'm setting myself an ambitious target - that the competitive edge my clients have in buying and the growth that we achieve through coaching will more than cover the investment in my coaching.